[unpaid/sample] I’ve got a couple of hair fragrances of which I’m extremely fond – I like the notion and the reality of freshly washed hair being given a little spritz of something delicious before putting on my coat and leaving the house. I don’t wear fragrance every day so it always feels special to walk through a waft – the best way to apply hair fragrance is from above in a mist that can just gently fall onto your locks as you walk through.
If you need a brush up on the who, what, why, the creator behind Arkive is Adam Reed, formerly of Percy & Reed which he left in 2019. Arkive Head Care was founded in 2022 with fragrance at the heart and you can wear these new perfumes either on your body or your hair – and obviously, both if you wish. I think I prefer the idea that these 10ml bottles are something special for hair. While hair fragrance is nothing new – Egyptian women apparently loved nothing more than to place a fragranced cone of fat on their heads and allow it to drip though their hair – we have come a long way, even from 1955 when Dior launched a small brush (la Siphonette) that could be dipped into a vial of Miss Dior and then drawn through your strands.
Above are Decorated Woods and No One Elsie. I love the smiley face on the bottle cap – maybe a reference from Adam regarding mental health which is a topic close to his heart. So, Decorated Woods is more powerful than I was expecting so a little will go a long way. It’s definitely woody with a generous helping of patchouli – I can pick out the moss notes and get the overall spicy impression that comes from ginger and saffron. No One Elsie has a lot of notes but over-riding everything is a big, sweet rhubarb note that’s had all the leaf taken out and all the custard put in – while it’s a bit too much for me, if you love a properly fruity and sweet fragrance, you will like this.
By far and away my favourite is Future Bloom – and I should have known it would be because it has my scent cat-nip, jasmine. I find this much more gentle than the previous two with a citrus opener (also rhubarb but I can’t smell it) and a kind of bulbish sweetness from lily of the valley. The vanilla/white musk base is warm and clean skin-like which makes it a very easy and pleasant wear either in hair or on the skin. I also very much like A Kind of Floral – it’s one of the few fragrances I’ve smelled where the pink pepper is truly present and not just an afterthought. There are some delicious peachy notes and a smooth tuberose depth that sits beside orange flower. Very lovely for its pepperiness and warmth.
Not all four fragrances are to my taste (I don’t need to smell fauxbarb for a while, that’s for sure), and they’re not fine fragrances, but The set of four fragrances is £25 HERE which feels reasonable to me – I must mention that all the fragrances are infused with baobab oil which should counteract any dryness that could come from the fragrance alcohol. They’re also all available in full size for £30.